This is a new column designed for any nonprofit looking to explore new and exciting ways to help your organization raise money for its mission. Whether you are new to fundraising, thinking about fundraising or an old pro, I hope to make this column informative and useful for all THN members.

First of all, I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to attend a fabulous conference this summer in Berkeley, CA called “Raising Change: A Social Justice Fundraising Conference”. It was truly an inspiring and unique conference. First of all, the conference was sold out and brought in 420 individuals from 28 different states and four countries with a total of 225 organizations. In addition, having interpreting services and handouts translated into Spanish allowed 25 monoligual Spanish-speakers to attend and actively participate in the sessions, and about two-thirds were people of color. There were hundreds of issues that people represented and one common denominator: the need to raise money to implement the mission for each organization.

I learned a lot out there at the conference and one of the most important lessons was that I wasn’t alone! I found myself thinking the famous quote by Margaret Mead, Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. By the end of the conference weekend of workshops, keynote presentations, and networking picnic lunches outside, I truly felt most of us would change the world! I also realized I wasn’t the only one struggling with the many levels of fundraising that one needs to understand in order to be successful. I wasn’t the only one working for an organization with an important message and without a way to communicate it effectively to everyone that should know about it. These are some of the reasons why I would like to start writing a column on fundraising practices. I’d also like to recommend books, magazines, and conferences that have helped educate and inspire me to begin raising funds for THN. As I begin my journey as a fundraiser, I can’t help but realize that there is so much for me to learn as well. Please feel free to share your own thoughts and perspectives by emailing me at ryla@thn.org.

One book I’ve read recently is called Fundraising for Social Change available at www.josseybass.com/go/chardonpress. The author is a woman named Kim Klein who is known as a fundraising guru throughout nonprofit circles around America. She has been the editor for a magazine called Grassroots Fundraising Journal for the past 25 years. Sadly, she has retired, but the magazine is still being produced and available for order at www.grassrootsfundraising.org. She is still very active in helping nonprofits brainstorm strategy and practical ways to bring in money from a grassroots level. Here is a little description of the book: “It’s one of the most widely used books on fundraising in the United States. Fundraising practitioners rely on it for hands-on, specific, and accessible fundraising techniques, and it has become a required text in dozens of college courses around the country. This fourth edition takes Fundraising for Social Change to new levels of usefulness, with added chapters on the relationship between the development director and executive director, on using the Internet, and making a career of social change fundraising. There are also expanded chapters on the topics that have made this book a classic: asking for money, planning and conducting major gifts campaigns, using direct mail effectively, conducting capital and endowment campaigns for small groups, and much, much more.”

Please contact Ryla Scull at Texas Homeless Network for any questions about the materials mentioned here at 512.687.5103 or email at ryla@thn.org.

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